The government-submitted document aiming to promote Armenian export needs amendment and a number of essential changes, a number of businessmen and experts said during discussion on Monday.

This document titled “The framework of industrial policy to promote export of the Republic of Armenia” drafted by EV Consulting Company suggests 8 percent export growth within the coming 9 years.

While in 2010 the share of exported production in GDP was 11 percent, the authors of the document predict growth of that indicator up to 19 if certain measures are taken.

“The goal of this project is to turn Armenia into a country with high-quality and science-based products and services,” explained Manuk Hergnyan, heading the EV Consulting.
“In our country, where more than 70 percent of GDP is produced by the private sector, it is impossible to achieve tangible changes only by state efforts; that’s why the private sector has an important part designated to it by the project.”

Stressing that the project suggests export development, Hergnyan said that first of all the economy has to be diversified and each branch has to secure numerous companies operating in it.

“At this stage of development the policy would to a certain extent be based on promoting priority fields that would become ‘prime movers’ for the next (an all-inclusive) stage,” said Hergnyan focusing on brandy production, pharmacology and biotechnologies, and others.

Arsen Ghazaryan, head of the union of businessmen and manufacturers of Armenia, opening the discussion, assessed the document as comprehensive and complex with the exception of one point.

“In any case, I thing the role of the state should not be presented as such a modest one, because, let’s say, in brandy production the state has to take measures to develop grape tending and make it more productive.”

During the discussion both the participating businessmen and economists proposed a number of amendments to the document.

The most essential amendment was to call the document a “project” instead of “framework” since a project implies a set of distinct activities and clear objectives carefully planned within certain deadlines of implementation.

Economist Ashot Markosyan said it is necessary that the document also include the reasons conditioning today’s structure (import-export ratio) of our foreign trade and suggest steps required to change it and eliminate the problems, as well as give grounded predictions.

“The document should have detailed steps on how to solve at least ten priority issues. And besides, the Armenian dram behavior in relation to other currencies during the projected period of time has to be thoroughly studied, since it has a huge impact on the import-export balance,” said Markosyan.

During the first eight months of 2011 the export from Armenia made more than $117 million, with import exceeding it 3.3 times ($396 million).

Hrazdan Stadium company leader Meruzhan Hakobyan said commenting on the document that there is no need to develop brandy production, since it is already developed and doesn’t require special attention as a separate branch.